Graham

Graham, Thomas (1805-69; often incorrectly written as Graham, Gregem, etc.), a major English chemist, founder of colloid chemistry. From 1837 to 1855, Graham was a professor at the University of London, and then (until his death) the director of the British Mint. In 1829, Graham began his research on the diffusion of gases, which led him to the discovery of an important law stating that the rate of diffusion is inversely proportional to the square root of the density of the gas (and its molecular weight). Then Graham turned to the study of the diffusion of liquids and osmosis and established that liquids can be divided into two classes based on the rate of diffusion—rapidly and slowly diffusing. The first he called crystalloids, the second—colloids. Graham constructed the first dialyzer for separating colloids from crystalloids. A large number of Graham's works were published in various periodicals. In addition, Graham is the author of "Elements of chemistry" (London, 1837; 2nd ed., v. I-II, London, 1850-59). After Graham's death, a collection of his works was published ("Chemical and physical researches", Edinburgh, 1876).